1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to hideaway beds and seats and, more particularly, to a folding seat-bed frame for connecting to a wall so that the frame is movable between a generally horizontal position for supporting a user thereon and a generally vertical position for stowing the seat-bed along the surface of the wall when the seat-bed is in the bed position. The frame assembly moves toward the wall when it is lowered from its vertical position into the horizontal position.
2. Description of the Background of the Invention
Seat-beds are known. One such seat-bed is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,778. The seat-bed disclosed in the '778 patent includes a seat support and a back support carried by a frame. Linkage connects the seat and back supports to the frame in a manner so that the back can collapse and be coplanar with the seat to define a bed. Frames supporting these designs may be numerous, but none has been successfully incorporated into a hideaway bed design. Additionally, prior hideaway bed designs typically fold up and down from the wall in jack knife fashion, which often results in a waste of space. One such wall-bed is shown in U.S. Des. 388,632.
The reason these arrangements waste space is that the hinge assembly connecting the frame to the wall must be offset from the surface of the wall a sufficient distance for the hinge to operate. The pivot point of the hinge has to exceed a distance from the wall greater than the depth of the cushions carried by the frame. Otherwise, the end of the cushions nearest the hinge contact the wall and the bed cannot be folded upward and stowed in parallel along the wall's surface. This also limits the thickness and thus the comfort of the cushions that can be carried by the frame. In all prior designs, too much space between the wall and the edge of the bed frame is taken up and rendered useless by the hinge or hinge assembly. This is especially undesirable in campers and RVs where the lateral wall-to-wall distance as well as overall space is limited.
There therefore remains a need for an improved space-saving seat-bed frame. The present invention is directed toward meeting this need.